Darkness
by TabbyKit
Summary: So, I just put this story up, and I am already changing the title, since there are about 1 thousand Shattered stories....Darkness surrounds me. I do not know where I am, although I have the feeling I do not want to go back where I came from.
1. Chapter 1

**Hello mina san! This is my first Sailor Moon fanfic, though it is not my overall first fic. I have been toying with the idea of writing a SM fanfic, but I suppose I did not have the proper inspiration. So! please enjoy, read and review. Will it follow canon? To a certain degree I suppose. I haven't really thought about it yet. I just wanted to see what people thought of it so far. If you are a stickler for details and do not enjoy a story unless it perfectly follows one of the many different SM's out there, get over yourself. I do not want your reviews if you are going to complain about how things are different from canon. If you have questions, great! If they are question about whether or not I meant to stick to the actual series and it was just a slip up, also great! Otherwise do not complain to me because the story is not going the way you want (although you can certainly wish for it to be so, kinda like we all have in the actual series...hence the reason we write fanfic...) You want a story to go exactly how you envision? Write it yourself. This is MY story to play with, though I did not create the original characters. Pyros beware my flame retardent rock hammer. Be nice, and I might mention you in the next chapter. **

**TabbyKit**

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"Usagi, Usagi, wake up."

_Sweet darkness surrounded her vision. Everywhere she looked nothing existed. Every once in awhile though a bright light would spear her vision. The light would pulse with a name. Was it her name? That she was not sure about. In reality she could not remember much. Just the feeling of intense pain. She knew she liked the darkness though. The darkness did not hurt. To be honest it did not soothe either, but the absence of pain was what mattered. _

"Please Usagi, wake up. We need you."

_All she knew about the light for sure was that it brought pain, and immense memories of pain with it. She did not like the light. So she simply stayed away, and did not answer. _

"Please……"

_What the cause of the pain was, she could not tell. The light tried to pull at her, tried to bring her closer. She kept backing up, further into the empty darkness. She wanted desperately for the light to go away. She felt that she would be both happy and sad if the light never came back, but the need to be happy overrode the sadness and desire to reach out for the light. Relaxing back into the darkness she pondered her thoughts. "Why do I not like the light?" The lack of concrete memory bothered her to some degree. "Why does thinking about the light conjure up memories of pain? I shall not think about the light then. The darkness is much better for me, I think." With that thought she turned her back on the light as best she could and shut it out. _

Minako turned to the resident nurse. "When will the Doctor come back?" she asked tiredly.

"In a few hours. He has to make his other rounds before he checks on her again. But as I have already told you, there has been no change." Answered the nurse.

"Oh. Thank you." Minako turned back to the prone blonde lying beside her. Placing her hand over the unmoving one on the bed, she began her telepathic probing once more. Reaching past the first barriers of the mind she began her calling again. "Usagi. Your body has healed. You won't be in pain when you wake up, please come back."

_Turning her head toward the light unwillingly she saw that it had gotten brighter. "Why will it not leave me alone?" This time, and the last few times, the light was yellow. "That is strange. I know that it has not always been yellow." Moving cautiously towards the light, she examined it from a safe distance. Cocking her head to the side inquisitively she thought about it. "Before this the light was red. I am sure of it. And before that it was blue, and green." Furrowing her brow in confusion she continued her thoughts. There was one form of light that she could not describe to herself, just that it was familiar, and filled her with more desire and pain then the other lights. While lost in her thoughts the light began moving closer. Looking up just before it reached her, she screamed. "NO!!!" Turning her back on it she ran further into the darkness. She ran until she felt she would collapse from exhaustion, though she had the sensation of being something other than a physical form. _

Feeling a subtle change in the girl Minako tried to dive deeper along the connection all the scouts had with their princess. As soon as she hit the next level in the mind she felt as though a steel wall had slammed into her body. The connection broken, she was thrown backwards out of her chair. Lying still on the floor catching her breath Minako couldn't understand what just happened. "I've never felt that before." She murmered. "Better call the scouts."

_After running for what seemed like an eternity, she stopped and opened her eyes. What she saw astonished her. Floating everywhere in the darkness were many tiny faceted shards. They reminded her of puzzle pieces, though why she knew what a puzzle piece was she did not know. Each had a jagged edge to it that she was sure fit with another of its kind. Walking slowly through the floating pieces she spied a pedestal in the darkness. It reached up just past her waist and was covered in a beautiful shimmering silver cloth. Nestled in the center of the cloth was a one of the shards, though this one was rounded and held a liquid inside of it. The rounded shard was about the size of her palm, and the clear liquid inside trembled at her approach. Reaching her hand out towards it she brushed the surface with her fingertip. She was instantly caught within memories, though what they meant she did not know. She saw before her the shards as a whole round shining crystal, a crystal that on the surface appeared perfect. Looking closer she noticed that there was a crack in the top of the crystal. She became aware that a clear liquid was falling on the crystal in small droplets. Some of those droplets slipped inside the crystal, beginning to fill it up. "Is this rain that I am seeing?" Before long the droplets turned into a steady drizzle moving quickly into a thorough downpour. Within a short amount of time the crystal was filled to the brim. A feeling of dread washed over her as the rain kept falling relentlessly. The crystal started trembling violently as the rain continued to drench it, forcing more and more liquid into it. Within moments the trembling increased, and the crystal shattered. The clear substance flew everywhere along with the shards of the crystal. Slowly the mist and her vision cleared as the memory ended. Before her once again was the broken crystal and the remaining liquid inside. Bringing her finger up to her lips she tasted the liquid. Gasping she fell to her knees. Tears. The clear liquid that had burst the crystal was made up of tears. Staring at her hand one thought crossed her mind before she gave in to despair. "These are _my_tears." _


	2. Red

**Chapter Two is up! If more people review the first chapter, I may change this one to add their names...we will see. **

**an interested reviewer: Thank you for your review. I have not really answered the question about Usagi yet, and I'm not sure exactly when I will. Hmm...In other words, I haven't really planned it out yet, I have a bit of an idea, but not a definite plan. We will see!**

**TabbyKit**

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_

_Despair. Complete and utter despair. "Please do not make me remember. Please……so much pain, so much sadness. I do not want to remember!"_

In a brightly lit hospital room sat five exhausted teenagers and two cats surrounding a figure on a sterile bed. "Now that we are all here, you can tell us what happened Minako." Said a raven haired priestess quietly. Minako glanced at the sleeping girl next to her.

"I felt her presence, I know I did. But when I tried to follow it, I ran into intense resistance. I couldn't go any farther into her mind. Part of me didn't want to probe further, knowing that I was getting close to more personal regions, but I tried, I really did." Explained Minako tearfully.

"We know you tried Mina." said Ami quietly.

"Yeah girl, you've been here more than any of us." Said Makoto. "I would have fallen dead asleep days ago! I don't know what has kept you going. Especially with this disgusting hospital food." She said admiringly.

"You know Mako chan, you just reminded me of how Usagi used to be. I wish we could get her back. I just don't understand what happened!" Cried Minako.

"What kind of resistance was it?" Asked Rei ignoring Minako. Turning towards the distraught blonde sitting by the bed Rei continued. "Was is like an outside force? Or something from within her mind?" Minako closed her eyes tiredly.

"It was definitely Usagi that blocked me, or something within Usagi. Though it was nothing like I have ever felt from her before. It was so much stronger than I thought she was." Minako paused before looking up at Rei and Mamoru. "Maybe one of you should try." She suggested quietly. "Rei, you are stronger telepathically than I am, and Mamoru…….Usagi loves you. Well, she did at one point anyway." She finished coldly. Rei looked at the floor, seemingly intent on studying the tiles.

"I can certainly try, but there is only so far I may be able to go. I would suggest we all try together, but her mind may be too fragile right now." Said Rei after a few minutes of consideration. Sitting in the chair that Minako reluctantly vacated Rei placed her hands on Usagi's forehead. So far everyone that had tried to contact her had been using a gentle begging approach. Hoping that Usagi would respond to her friends of her own free will. This, however, was not really in Rei's nature. Ignoring normal telepathic protocol Rei moved quickly past the first mind barrier and pushed on toward the second. Stopping just before she breached the next wall, Rei took a look around. She was within Usagi's first barrier, so she should have been seeing day to day thoughts and ideas. Rei was a little disconcerted that this was not the case. Even coma patients had some activity on this level, though usually it was just a reflection of whatever was probing their mind. Rei was surrounded by a pressing darkness, whose silence was more disturbing than sound. Shaking off her nervousness, Rei turned once more toward the barrier, studying it intensely. The barrier seemed to stretch on for eternity, but this was normal, and she was slightly relieved by that. In most peoples minds, the second barrier was made up of words and sayings that people would say to themselves on a daily basis to keep their more private thoughts just that, private. However the wall in front of Rei had no words on it, in fact it had nothing at all. If she hadn't known to look for it, it would have appeared that there was no barrier at all. Rei paused for a moment and thought about it. Thinking of nothing useful she raised her hand and placed it flat on the wall. Nothing happened. Putting some weight on it, Rei braced herself, expecting to be pushed backwards. Again, nothing happened. "So what pushed Minako away?" she asked the darkness. Now placing both hands on the wall she pushed harder and harder. Frustrated by the lack of response, she called out to Usagi. "Odango, Odango answer me." Waiting a moment she called again. "Usagi! USAGI! Wake up you useless girl!" she shouted. Rei took a step back and honed her thoughts, sending them like a spear towards the wall. When her thoughts hit the wall she felt no resistance. Startled by how easily she breached the wall, Rei walked forward. Still there was nothing but darkness. Since she couldn't see anything, she put her hands out in front of her, waiting to hit the next barrier. After walking for awhile, she became annoyed and called on her powers to give her some light. She began softly glowing, shedding a red light into the darkness. Still nothing. No thoughts, no feelings, no memories, nothing. Turning to her right she noticed something flitting just out of her range of vision. Standing perfectly still she cast her senses out towards it hoping that it was Usagi she had found. Closing her eyes in concentration she did not notice the slow mist that was forming at her feet. The mist flowed around her legs, not quite touching, but seeming to probe and test the raven haired intruder. "Odango! I know you are there!" She shouted. The mist recoiled seemingly in alarm. Pulling backwards it formed into a semblance of a solid shape behind Rei. Two eyes appeared in the mist, about waist height compared to the priestess. The golden eyes bored into Rei's head, causing her to turn around and jump back in fright. "Usagi?" she questioned. The eyes in the mist stared back for a moment, before narrowing dangerously.

"_What is this?" She asked. "There is light again. There is Red light." Sitting up slowly she looked around her. "Why is there Red light? I thought it was yellow." The shards of the crystal were still floating around her, as was a mist of tears. As the Red light pulsed into the darkness the shards began to glow with it. She reached out for the nearest shard pulling it towards her and cupping it in her hands. Within moments she was enveloped in a memory. _

"Usagi! You have been late every day this week! If you are going to continue to disregard our meeting times perhaps you should just stop coming!"

"Rei, it wasn't my fault! My mother needed me to pick up Shingo. Besides, you always pick the meeting times for what suits your schedule." Complained Usagi.

"You are so scatterbrained that even if you picked the times you still wouldn't get here on time!" Yelled Rei.

_Throwing the shard away from her as though she had been burnt she curled up into a ball. "Red. Red hurts. I wish Red would go away." She whispered. _

"Red." Said the mist. "Red hurts. I wish Red would go away."

"Usagi?" Rei questioned uncertainly. Suddenly the misty being snarled and rushed forward, thrusting Rei back towards the lesser levels of the mind.

"Get out NOW!" Rei was flung out of Usagi's mind and back into her own. Falling forward onto the bed Rei rested for a moment before answering the questions that flooded at her from the Scouts. Looking at Usagi Rei told them what happened.

"I was able to get into the third level of the mind, I think, though I did not pass through the third barrier itself. In anyone else's mind I would have reached and passed the third barrier at the point I was at in Usagi's mind. There were no thoughts anywhere. It was total darkness, which in and of itself is disturbing. The only thing I could think of is that there was no barrier because Usagi hides nothing from people. However, when I used my powers to light up the place, I thought I felt Usagi. Well, I felt something at least. When I came out of my probing there was something behind me that had glowing golden eyes. That was what pushed me out." Said Rei.

"What was it?" Asked Ami.

"I don't know. It was….it seemed to be made of mist. Whatever it was, it was young, like a child." Answered Rei.

"Could this mist-child be Usagi?" Wondered Makoto. Glancing at Minako she furrowed her brow. "Was this what you ran into?"

"I felt like I was hit by a wall, not pushed out by a child, so I don't think it was the same thing." Explained Minako.

"Rei." Said a quiet commanding voice. They all turned to look at Mamoru. "You are leaving something out aren't you." Piercing her with his eyes, Rei defiantly returned his stare before wincing.

"The mist said something to me. It said: 'Red. Red…..hurts. I wish Red would go away.' Then when it pushed me out it said: 'Get out now.'"

"Red hurts?" Exclaimed Minako. "What have you done to Usagi?!" She charged at Rei, only stopped by the fact that Ami and Makoto grabbed onto her.

"Hey girl, calm down." Said Makoto. "We don't even know if this is misty thing is Usagi."

"How can it be." Mamoru murmured softly. "My Usagi has blue eyes, not gold."

"Minako, if the mist-child is Usagi, perhaps it was just reacting to some of the negative memories about Rei, the ones where Rei teased her, or before they became friends. Rei hasn't always been the nicest, but she hasn't been overly cruel either." Said Ami.

"What if it is something else? What if Rei actually did do something?" Countered Minako.

"Are you accusing me of hurting our Princess? Rei said angrily.

"The Princess, no. Usagi? Yes. You have always thought about them as two separate entities. You never thought that Usagi could be our Princess, not even after the battle with Beryl. Not when she has come through for us time and time again. At first I just thought your snippy comments were meant to push Usagi to better herself. But for the last year or so, your comments have really been hurting her, yet you haven't stopped them! You've never cared about her feelings, you just continue on as if nothing has happened to her in the past year, as if she hasn't grown at all, as if she hasn't saved our butts over and over again." Yelled Minako. "Usagi is our Princess, no matter how you wish it otherwise." With that she stormed out into the hallway slamming the door behind her.

"She has a point Rei." Said Makoto. "You have been getting a bit meaner. Do you really think that Usagi and the Princess are different?"

"They have to be. Our Princess was smart, and graceful, and powerful, and…and…"

"And just as big hearted and sweet and caring as our Usagi." Said Ami. "As for the power, Usagi has more power in her than we do, if she didn't we would have been dusted by now."

"Rei, she has grown quite a bit. Her grades have gotten better, though by our standards they still aren't great, and she has improved in her fighting." Said Mamoru.

"You're one to talk! Even if my comments have gotten meaner as you all claim, Mamoru, you are the one that broke her heart! You are the one that abandoned her, you are the one that….that…."

"That what Rei?" He asked dangerously.

"That cheated on her."


	3. Yellow

A/N: Chapter 3 is here! Sorry for the long wait, but I kept hitting a brick wall with this chapter...ow, my head hurts.

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Minako sat in the hall just outside Usagi's door sobbing quietly. "Why did this happen to her?" She asked the air. "Why did this happen to our Princess? She has never hurt anyone out of cruelty. She doesn't even like hurting youma!" Leaning her head against the wall Minako stared at the ceiling. "Usagi…..please come back. I promise I will protect you my cousin, my sister…..my friend." Brushing her hand across her eyes she wiped away the last of her tears. _"This really is NOT like me."_ She thought. _"In Usagi's absence, I am the leader of the Senshi. I am their General. Get it together!. You do not have time to sit here crying while she is in there alone with her thoughts."_ Standing up and brushing herself off, Minako opened the door only to hear Rei yelling at Mamoru:

"That cheated on her." Freezing in the doorway Minako stared off into space, trying to leash in the anger that was brought on by those words. _"You cannot make assumptions, you must see everything from all angles. Ask questions now, put the pieces together later."_ Focusing on the irate priestess, who, unlike the Earth Prince, was under her jurisdiction, she spoke. "Explain that statement Sailor Mars." She ground out. Everyone turned to look at her as a myriad of emotions flickered through their eyes. Ami and Makoto had a mixture of astonishment, awe and a touch of deference, while Rei's eyes only held challenge and Mamoru's guilt. The two cats looked on with pride. "Sailor Mars. I asked you to explain yourself. Do so now."

"What right do you have to tell me what to do?" Snapped Rei.

"The right as the longest existing Scout, your General, and our Princess' Cousin. Explain. Now." Trying to glare at both Minako and Mamoru at the same time Rei gave up and looked at Usagi.

"Mamoru, cheated on Usagi." Stated Rei.

"I can't believe that Rei!" Exclaimed Ami. "Usagi would have told us."

"Did she even know?" Makoto asked at the same time.

"Mamoru. I know I have no power over you, especially on your own planet, but I do ask that you explain yourself. Is this true?" Queried Minako.

"No. I did not cheat on Usagi." Rei scoffed at Mamoru's response. Minako just looked thoughtful.

"It does not even make sense does it. You broke up with her……..how could you cheat on her." Mused Minako. "Mamoru, please answer me this one question. Why? Why did you break up with her? I really think that set all this in motion more than anything. Perhaps it has been building up for years, but I do think that was the catalyst." Mamoru sighed and moved to stand next to his Princess. Brushing a stray hair away from her face he took her limp hand in his.

"I wanted to protect her. I was having horrible nightmares about losing her, watching her die. The dreams kept telling me that she would die if I stayed with her. What was I supposed to do? I couldn't let any harm come to her. I…..I didn't know what to do. So I did what I thought was right." He explained.

"You should have told us." Said Luna.

"We might have been able to help." Agreed Artemis.

"You cannot be serious. You aren't going to believe that are you? I already told you that he cheated on her. I am a Senshi. You cannot take his word over mine." Said Rei.

"Ami, Makoto, Luna, Artemis, I would like to speak to you alone please." Said Minako. Turning around she walked out of the door without waiting for a response. Making her way down the hallway Minako turned into a nearby waiting room. As soon as the others filed in she shut the door. "As your General, it is my duty to protect the Princess and lead you until she is once again able to do so. Right now I am asking your opinion. I believe I have made up my mind about it, but I need to know what you think. Who is lying; Rei or Mamoru?"

"Rei." Luna and Artemis said in unison.

"Rei." Agreed Ami. Makoto just nodded her head. Minako looked troubled. Walking over to the lone window in the room she leaned her head against it resting for a moment.

"Then we are unanimous." She said quietly. Turning to face her scouts once more Minako looked them all in the eye. "So what do we do about it? Why is she lying about Mamoru? What could be the reason for it?"

"Rei believes that Usagi is not our Princess. Could she, in a way, be acting for the person she believes to be the Princess? In other words, is she trying to break up Usagi and Mamoru so that he will be available to fall in love with who she believes the _real_ Princess to be? Suggested Ami.

"Do we all agree that she is our Princess?" Asked Makoto.

"I have no doubt that she is my Cousin and my Princess." Stated Minako. "Luna? Artemis?"

"She is who I remember her to be. I do not know why she is not exactly the same, but I do know that Usagi is my Princess and my future Queen." Said Artemis.

"I agree." Said Luna. There are some things that bother me about her reincarnation, but I think that might have been part of Queen Serenity's plan. If she were exactly the same as she was in the Silver Millennium, she may have been found by the Negaverse before we could get to her. Perhaps Serenity changed her daughter temporarily so that she could slip under their radar, so to speak."

"I don't think that is it Luna. Usagi was never fond of lessons in the past either. I should know, I was there for some of them. More often than not she found ways out of them. The only reason I think she is different now is that she had less of the responsibility growing up. I think part of Usagi always knew she was the Princess and that if she didn't goof off now, she wouldn't get the chance. In the past she knew she had those responsibilities, and that she couldn't get away with missing too many lessons or not learning about her kingdom." Minako sighed. "As long as we all agree that she is out Princess, we can figure out these details later. Right now I must deal with Rei."

"What are you going to do Minako?" Asked Makoto.

"As of right now Sailor Mars is stripped of her position. Until our Princess wakes up and tells us exactly what happened, Sailor Mars is no more. Rei will not have her transforming pen, will not be allowed to our meetings, she will not be allowed in the vicinity of the Princess and she will not be contacted in the event of a Youma attack. She will be allowed to keep her communicator in case she gets attacked, but that is the only reason she is to use it. I am not willing to revoke her protection completely. Usagi would not want me to do that no matter what. Are there any objections to this sentence?"

"Yes and no." Said Artemis. "I agree that something needs to be done, but we do not know why Sailor Mars is doing these things. I do think she should stay away from our Princess for the time being, but I am not sure we should strip her of her powers."

"Can we even do that?" Asked Makoto

"When will the sentence be revoked?" asked Ami.

"We should be able to supress her powers. She will have to agree to it to make it simple, otherwise it will have to be done by force, and that will take more energy. Suffice it to say, we have to call on our powers to bind hers. As per when the sentence will be revoked, that will be decided by our Princess. Should she choose to allow Sailor Mars to resume her position, so be it. But until then, Rei is no longer a Senshi." Squaring her shoulders Minako walked slowly back towards Usagi's room.


End file.
